Soweto students give lesson to humbled Aussie men

At the Pumla Special School on the outskirts of the Johannesburg city centre, sport is ever present.

Wedged in between slums in the north-eastern part of the famous Soweto township, less than two kilometres from the former homes of Nobel Prize winners Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pumla is dwarfed by the imposing site of the nearby Orlando Stadium, the 37,000-seat football ground that rises high out of the otherwise barren and confronting landscape.

On Tuesday, the 260 students at Pumla – officially the Pumla School for Learners with Special Educational Needs – had another taste of professional sport when seven members of the Australian Men's Cricket Team paid a visit to pass on their knowledge to the players in the school's cricket team.

In return, Pumla's students taught some of the best players in the world how to enjoy the game without some of the most basic equipment.

And, much to the players' amusement, they also taught them how to dance.

Having been given a rousing reception when they walked onto the school playground, the seven Australian players – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott – were quickly split up into three mini cricket matches on adjacent 'pitches', which were each nothing more than patches of uneven turf around 10 metres long.

The young students then took turns batting in front of a set of rudimentary wooden stumps, despite the absence of almost any sort of protective equipment as they faced the hard, red cricket balls that were tossed their way.

While the students didn't bowl at any great pace, what followed was 45 minutes of organised chaos as the three games took place within close proximity to each other.

Image Id: 195C5BD463D4460A92176D98DAA37429 Image Caption: A student bowls to Steve Smith // Martin Smith

Bowlers got deliveries to misbehave off the unpredictable surface and when the batters did manage to make solid contact, the ball would fly in the air towards unaware fielders playing in the game immediately next door.

"Lucky our team doctor's not here," Starc quipped when the games ended. "He'd have a heart attack watching a couple of these balls lifting up off a length."

Inevitably, there were a couple of body blows; the Australians winced and rushed in to provide a comforting arm on the few occasions a young batter copped a ball on an unprotected piece of flesh before bravely playing on.

The professionals enthusiastically joined in as well, bowling a few balls, hitting catches to the scores of students who watched on and providing technical tips to their young students.

Image Id: 6E8A7DE721C141B29179F801D64B8E22 Image Caption: Ashton Agar talks grip with a fellow spinner // Martin Smith

But the high point of a memorable morning came after the bats and balls had been put away and the school children had sung passionately as they posed for a group photo alongside their high-profile visitors.

An impromptu circle of players and students formed in the middle of the playground, at which point one of the young hosts took a few steps forward and, as his schoolmates sang and clapped in unison, began to dance.

What followed was a procession of youngsters taking turns in striding to the middle of the circle and showing off their best moves, the Australians howling with laughter in approval at the audacity on display, videos of which would later fill their social media feeds.

The very real security risk in South Africa's largest city means Tuesday was the first time on this tour that the Australian players had ventured far beyond the confines of their hotel in the affluent suburb of Sandton, 30 kilometres – and another world away – from the struggle of the Pumla students in impoverished Soweto.

Image Id: F2F9F7B18F06472D9873F4C0A4D49D90 Image Caption: High fives for everyone // Martin Smith

But as the Australians returned to the heart of the city ahead of their afternoon training session at the Wanderers, they did so with their spirits lifted.

"It puts a lot of things in perspective," Starc said.

"We're very sheltered in hotel rooms and cricket grounds and to come out here … you bond through cricket and sport, not just here but all around the world.

"It's nice to get out of the hotel room, get away from training for half a day and see a lot of smiles on faces brought on by a simple game of cricket.

"That's the beauty of sport around the world, not just cricket. It brings smiles to a lot of faces."

The Australian Men's Cricket Team visited the Pumla School for Learners with Special Educational Needs as part of Cricket Australia's Cricket Cares program. The trip was organised in conjunction with the Australian High Commissioner to South Africa, Gita Kamath, as well as the Gauteng branch of the South African Sports Association for the Intellectually Impaired

Australia's Qantas Tour of South Africa 2020

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

First T20: February 21 at Johannesburg. 3am AEDT (Feb 22), Fox Cricket & Kayo

Second T20: February 23 at Port Elizabeth 11.30pm AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo

Third T20: February 26 at Cape Town. 3am AEDT (Feb 27), Fox Cricket & Kayo

First ODI: February 29 at Paarl (D/N). 10pm AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo

Second ODI: March 4 at Bloemfontein (D/N). 10pm AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo

Third ODI: March 7 at Potchefstroom. 7pm AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo